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HUG - here for all audio enthusiasts

Since its inception ten years ago, the Harbeth User Group's ambition has been to create a lasting knowledge archive. Knowledge is based on facts and observations. Knowledge is timeless. Knowledge is human independent and replicatable. However, we live in new world where thanks to social media, 'facts' have become flexible and personal. HUG operates in that real world.

HUG has two approaches to contributor's Posts. If you have, like us, a scientific mind and are curious about how the ear works, how it can lead us to make the right - and wrong - decisions, and about the technical ins and outs of audio equipment, how it's designed and what choices the designer makes, then the factual area of HUG is for you. The objective methods of comparing audio equipment under controlled conditions has been thoroughly examined here on HUG and elsewhere and can be easily understood and tried with negligible technical knowledge.

Alternatively, if you just like chatting about audio and subjectivity rules for you, then the Subjective Soundings sub-forum is you. If upon examination we think that Posts are better suited to one sub-forum than than the other, they will be redirected during Moderation, which is applied throughout the site.

Questions and Posts about, for example, 'does amplifier A sounds better than amplifier B' or 'which speaker stands or cables are best' are suitable for the Subjective Soundings area.

The Moderators' decision is final in all matters regarding what appears here. That said, very few Posts are rejected. HUG Moderation individually spell and layout checks Posts for clarity but due to the workload, Posts in the Subjective Soundings area, from Oct. 2016 will not be. We regret that but we are unable to accept Posts that present what we consider to be free advertising for products that Harbeth does not make.

Comment

I know that this goes against everything that Alan and the brochures say, but I've found, to my surprise, that my HLP3s have been getting better and better in the three months I've had them (since I've been mostly at home I've been playing them about 8 hours a day!) An initial problem with the treble has gradually disappeared, there seems to be more bass, and mid-range clarity with very large orchestral forces has lost all sense of slight congestion in loud passages I had heard earlier. I've just finished an absolutely riveting session listening to Barbarolli's classic 1970s recording on EMI of the Mahler 5th, on a 30-year-old LP. (It may now be one of my "pick 3" records, John.)

Or am I the one that's improving?

Best

David

PS This session was played using my original equipment, not the 11-watt JLH amp I tried the other night.

Comment

The up-to-date spares situation is detailed here: http://www.harbeth.co.uk/sales/servicingandspares/index.php and yes, you are correct that the spares for very old models are no longer available. That situation changed when Harbeth started to make bass/mid drivers in-house, some ten or so years ago. Prior to that, Chartwell then Rogers, then Audax made woofers for Harbeth. Anticipating that the unavailability of bass/mid drivers would ultimately strangle us, we set about designing our own RADIAL driver in 1990 - and have never looked back.

"Common repairs" . . . In one year, I'd be surprised if we issued, in total, 20 pieces of HL spare drivers worldwide to cover Warranty or other needs. That's a reflection of how picky we are about selection and testing at the point of manufacture and of the sensibilities of our customers. We always ask for defective drivers to be cut open and examined (either at HO or by the Distributor) since the tell-tale signs of 'non-warranty failure' - a polite way of saying customer neglect - are all too obvious. Almost always that is voice coil burn-out. You can see what that looks like at the bottom of the Spares page.

Of those occasional burn-outs we see, I'm convinced that most are due to the customer's amp failing, and dumping the entire power supply voltage on the speakers. Old amps do need checking and proper maintenance - it's far cheaper than new drivers.

Alan A. ShawDesigner, ownerHarbeth Audio UK

Comment

An amp blew two woofers in my C7-2s and I had them easily repaired here in the USA by Millersound. They don't have a website and I've misplaced the phone number, but anyone can e-mail and I'll find what I can. Each woofer was scraping slightly and making scratchy, bad sounding music. Cost was $65.00 each (plus $20.00 shipping both ways) and they now make beautiful music.

By the way, I input a thread some weeks ago about a slight hardness or glare in the upper midrange presentation. I found the problem and it had nothing to do with the speakers. Somehow my DAC had "mis-set" itself and when I retoggled everything correctly, the music came back. Now there is not a harsh, glarey, etched, or hard note to be had anywhere. Saxes, pianos, guitars, trumpets, vocals, etc. can be played as loud as I want with nothing but stunningly good music comin' at me. Now I can't wait for music time each night while my wife gets ready for bed.

Comment

Looking after any dynamic speaker should be the same I expect. I have 30 year old Rogers Monitor II speakers and considering having the crossover capacitors checked and replaced as necessary. Also, I have been encouraged by audiophiles to replace speaker wiring. My questions are (1) Will newer hi-tech speaker wire like Cardas make an improvement in sound? (2) Will capacitor replacement change the sound in a negative manner.

Must admit that after listening to Harbeth HL-5's and HP-2 speakers, I am contemplating purchase, when I have the necessary funds. Before such an expenditure, is a speaker rewiring a sound move?

Bill

Comment

An honest answer from me is don't waste your money. Others may have different opinions. Whilst changing the cables may (or may not) make a difference to the sound (and that comment can be equally applied to changing the capacitors) you are tinkering around the edges of the issue. What you are suggesting is a car cleaning valet on a thirty year old car; it may make you feel better but the engine will still be thirty years old!

Comment

Thank you for responding to my query so promptly. My thinking was similar to yours, but wanted an opinion from an expert before I engaged in this pursuit.

So, onward in the purchase of a set of Harbeth speakers. Must mention that I had a rather negative 1st experience with Monitor 30 speakers. Bought a pair online only to find that after 2 days of auditioning them, that the quality and quantity of bass performance was substandard. Sounded rather thin overall. So I sold them only to find out from the purchaser that one of the bass drivers had a large slit in it. Fortunately the US distributor had a driver in stock, which I paid for. My customer was satisfied, but I of course lost a few dollars in the transaction.

The dealer that I had purchased my tube McIntosh equipment from is now a Harbeth dealer. So I gave my ears another try with a Harbeth product. Loved the HL-5 and the HL-P3ES-2 which the dealer has in stock. My listening room is 15ft x 15 ft x 9 ft high and speakers have to be placed 12 inches from a wall. I see no trouble with the P3, however, the HL5 may not interact with this size of room. Hopefully the dealer will let me audition both at home, if not, then I will stay with the speakers I have.

Comment

Veneer care should be much dependant on weather of country region or room condition. For my case, I am using microfibre cloth, women make up brusher and camera lens dust blower to clean radial cone. I do used the brusher to dusting speaker top. Whenever I vacc my house, at least once a week, I am using furniture brush nozzle to suck out dust in gap between the back and front panel, also the speaker top.

I never use the slightly damped cloth to wipe my harbeth because that will increased the posibility of mould/fungus growth in my hall.

Cheers.

"Bath with Music"

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The reason I asked is I heard that some wood cleaners and perservatives(especially the silicon based ones) can be harmfull to speaker finishes. I just picked up a pair of m40.1's and i wanna make sure i can give them the best care possible.

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Direct sun light may be the most harmful to your speakers finnish, followed by extreme humidity. If these can be avoided or minimized, your speakers finnish will last a long time.

I have only dusted with a microfiber cloth, and occasionally a light brushing of the grill cloth, to keep my cherry C7ES3's looking like new. I am fortunate to have a heating and air conditioning system that moderates temperature and humidity.